Temp-to-Perm
by AppleLass
Summary: Darcy gets hired by SHIELD for a temp job babysitting Loki while he's incarcerated post-destruction of NYC. When he gets out and starts working for SHIELD himself, he begins to take more of an interest in her career. Rated M for possible adult themes later on. Darcy/Loki
1. Chapter 1

A/N: So I'm new to this fandom but completely in love with the idea of Loki & Darcy! This is my first attempt, at how I think things would have gone. I don't own any of the characters and I'm not making any money off of them.

Description: A temp-to-perm babysitting/guard-duty gig turns into something more when Loki takes an interest in Darcy Lewis's career.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Darcy tugged at the ill-fitting suit jacket she had picked up in her mad dash to the airport. Jane had said to arrive wearing professional attire, which wasn't usually a word she would have used to describe her wardrobe. Academic and thrift-store-chic were perhaps more appropriate. But Jane had said it was important to look good, so she had swiped the cheapest stuff she could find at the store closest to the Las Vegas airport. She was lucky it wasn't covered in rhinestones and sequins.

Jane had greeted her at the airport in New York in the company of large men in suits, and while the two woman had exchanged a few looks and mouthed phrases - "Oh my god!" "I know!" "What's going on?" "I know!" "What?" "What?" - Darcy was still pretty clueless to what this special project was that Jane needed her for. She knew that it was important since she had been given a seat on a flight to NYC - something she never would have been able unless she was a rescue aid worker. Whatever she was doing for Jane, it qualified.

The ride was long and depressing. Curfew was still in effect for all non-essential personnel, and non-emergency vehicles were prohibited from driving the streets. In one section of the city it looked as if someone had taken a giant saw to the tops of all the buildings. She had heard that the attack had been damaging, but nothing had prepared her for the scale of what she saw through the windows. Even Stark Tower, which turned out to be their final destination, looked battered. Darcy clutched Jane's hand a few times in sympathy. They kept quiet, each in their own thoughts.

Her interview and hiring consisted of a tall, imposing looking man who stomped up to her and Jane while they were waiting in the reception foyer of Stark Towers. Darcy jolted at the sight of his eyepatch. She could not believe people actually wore them anymore! It wasn't until he stopped and movement around him continued that she notice that there were a train of four people walking after him, all carrying phones, piles of documents, or otherwise intent on looking busy. None of them would make eye contact.

The man nodded to Jane. He cave a quick, cursory glance over Darcy, and she could feel his indifference like a cold breeze. "Fine," he said, quickly and curtly. He reached behind him and deftly plucked a manilla folder off the top of a pile a woman in a tight pony tail was carrying at his right elbow. He looked at the cover and handed it to Jane.

With that, he and his entourage left, marching out into the street where a large, black SUV screeched up in front of him right when he hit the sidewalk.

Darcy looked up at Jane, wide-eyed. "What just happened?"

"That was Nick Fury, director of SHIELD. You've just been hired on as a temporary employee." Jane looked at the manilla envelope, opening it. "He dropped off your access key card, which requires retina authentication."

"Retina? Ooo-kay. He's a real people person, I guess. So, when do I get to find out what exactly I'm doing here?"

"Once you sign this non-disclosure agreement," a calm voice said from behind her. She turned to find a tall, pretty blond. She was pretty sure it was Tony Stark's personal assistant, unless he had six of them who all looked a like, and then it would be one of his assistant's assistants.

That was when Darcy turned her suspicious gaze to Jane. "Last I heard you were in Iceland or Russia somewhere. All of a sudden you - and me - are now in New York City working for the same people…" she looked around and leaned in, whispering in a not-so-subtle stage whisper, "who stole my iPod?!" That wasn't all that she wanted to say, but in present company she had no idea what she was supposed to know or say. She waggled her eyebrows to indicate that she was using code.

Jane rolled her eyes a little, but it was the blonde who spoke. "Why don't we take this upstairs, Ladies."

XXXXXXX

Loki sat in a prison of glass, iron and magic, and glowered. His hands were bound together, his feet were bound together, a muzzle - a muzzle! - had been placed around his head and over his mouth, and he was seated in a cell with a 360 view of a blank white room. And the only thing to look at in the room today was a frumpy, mortal woman.

At first he took no notice when she was shown in by one of his jailers. Despite his cage being sound proof, he was adept at reading lips and off-handedly saw the burly guard telling the much shorter woman what the rules were. No speaking to the prisoner. No interacting with the prisoner. No cell phones or other electronic devices. No providing the prisoner any items or information. A button on the wall would alert the guards that she needed something and a replacement would be sent. Did she have any questions?

Apparently the woman had many, but since she was facing away he could only see the answers to them. No, no, no, and she would have to take that question up with Mr. Fury or Mr. Stark.

He supposed this jailor was a little more interesting than the string of suited bodyguards. Had he been free and had the desire, he could have easily escaped their custody. As it was, he was glad to be in their "safekeeping." He had failed, and there were people who were now bound to more than a little upset with him. Right now the safest place for him - on this planet at least - was right here under the lock and key of Tony Stark and his little friends.

He suddenly stiffened at the thought that this woman was put in place by those very people he feared to face. Was she here to kill him? To bring him back to his former master? The idea sent chills down his spine and he straightened his back with heightened awareness. He would not be caught unaware.

But as time progressed he grew more and more confident that she was nothing more than another jailor.

Every guard before her had stood stiffly in the empty, white room, just inside the door. It had only taken ten minutes before this woman had called for a chair. And she fidgeted. She seemed almost unable to sit still. Every tap of her foot, every flick of her hair or tug of the sleeves on her ill-fitting jacket drew his attention. Loki sighed and tried to plot his eventual escape.

XXXXXX

She was only two hours in and she was bored out of her mind. When she first found out her "special project" had been to babysit an incarcerated Loki, Norse God of Mischief and Lies and chief villain responsible for the destruction of NYC, she had shrieked and threatened to leave. Jane had calmly explained that they needed someone trustworthy who could get clearance quickly for the job, and she was on the short list. Pepper - the blond woman who was indeed Tony Stark's assistant - had explained that it would only be for a day or two while they were arranging his transportation back to Asgard. Darcy had muttered for a few minutes about stolen iPods and evil villains, but in the end she had been wooed with the promise of an Apple gift card and a promise by Pepper herself that he was completely harmless in his current state.

So there she was, in a cell with the world's worst super-villain. Her adrenaline had kept her focused and intense the first few minutes, but then boredom and jet lag had set in and she had asked for a chair. Now two hours in to her temp job she was ready to kill for a latte and her laptop. The man was positively made from stone.

At first when she had come in his eyes had flickered and she would see that he was watching her, listening, maybe, although the guard confirmed that Loki could not hear them. Now he looked like a glazed over Krispy kreme donut… and just as tasty as one too.

She shook her head, trying to get those thoughts out of her mind. What was she thinking? Well, to be honest she had always had a thing for bad boys. But he was in the realm of serial killer, crazy bomber bad boys. As in, don't-even-think-about-it bad.

Was it just her or was it getting hotter in here? Darcy took a quick glance over at the man bound and restrained in the corner, but he was ignoring her, same as ever. Well, good. She stripped out of her jacket, glad she was wearing only a thin floral-print blouse underneath. She slung it over the back of her chair and wrapped her hair up in a messy bun on the top of her head. Now what was she going to do?

No iPod yet, but she would soon be able to fix that. They had taken her taser when she had gone through the metal detectors downstairs, and she had been made to leave her phone with Jane along with her pedometer. Her pedometer! As if that was a threat! There had to be something in her purse to keep her occupied.

XXXXXXXXX

The woman had to be some sort of test. Nicky Fury must have sent her in here to try his patience until he was willing to cooperate. Well, he wasn't going to give them the satisfaction of knowing it was working.

At first she seemed content to stare at him. Then she went rummaging through the bag she carried, from which she pulled out colored pebbles she proceeded to eat slowly, one by one, licking her fingers in between each morsel. He wanted to roll his eyes. Did she think to entice him? Then she began pulling out various writing implements, testing them each out on little stacks of paper. Several went into her atrocious nest of hair perched on top her head. Eventually the chair wasn't enough and she took to the floor, emptying her bag and shaking out all the debris which seemed to gravitate to mortals. It irritated him. Sure, it was a jail cell, but it was his, and until her arrival it had been pristine. Now there was dirt, lint and Odin only knew what else littering the floor around her. She was a walking disaster.

He frowned slightly as she started pulling everything back in. He wanted her to find more things to put into her mouth so that he could show off his impressive resolve against her annoying presence.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I don't own any of this - the people, the location, etc., and I'm not making any money off of it. What I am doing is having a lovely time writing it. It's not beta'd, so, as the expression goes, the mistakes are all my own.

XXXXX

Darcy tried to act casual as she continued to organize the contents of her purse. She had seen him twitch, if not twice than at least once, and felt his laser-like attention focus on her at some point while she was picking through her purse. And yet he still refused to acknowledge her, pretending to ignore her. Well, two could play at that game. She might not be able to find anything to entertain her inside her purse, but there was a living and breathing evil villain she might be able to to use sitting right in front of her.

Darcy, sitting in her chair again, arched her back, pushing her chest forward until it strained a little against her thin silk blouse. She tipped her head back and slowly removed the pens and pencils she had idly stuck into her messy bun earlier. She carelessly let them fall to the floor. That alone should get his attention if she had not already had it. But she didn't even look in the direction of the man in the cell, instead keeping her head tilted to look up at the white ceiling. She undid the bun and let her brunette locks fall in waves around her shoulders. She purred in relief as if it was a huge weight off of her head, and she gently massaged her scalp.

She could feel his eyes on her. She pretended not to notice.

Without glancing in his direction, she bent over at the waist and started to gather up the dropped pens, knowing full well that the front of her blouse was gaping and it provided a direct line down into her cleavage. To get to the pens which had fallen behind the chair she twisted around in her seat and leaned over, knowing that he was getting a nice view of her ass-hugging pencil skirt. But when she turned around her face was carefully schooled to look innocent and oblivious. And pointedly not looking at him.

Sitting back in her chair, she kicked off her heels and crossed her legs, running one stocking-ed foot along her calf, up and down, while she pretended to look at her nails.

XXXXXXX

Whoever she was working for was indeed trying to torture him. Loki gave up pretending indifference and glared at the woman in the chair on the otherside of the class. Not that she noticed - for the past 20 minutes she refused to look at him. She was obviously aware of him - the way she flipped her hair, the way she wiggled her ass when she pretended to pick things up off the floor. She was obviously trying to get his attention. Well, she had it. And yet she infuriatingly refused to acknowledge him anymore.

She was supposed to be watching him and making sure he didn't got into trouble, not flirting. Therefore any indication that she was flirting was merely a ploy or trick. Part of him admired her spunk to do that to what her race used to call the God of Mischief, but the rest of him just felt vexed.

It occurred to him that she was providing the most stimulation for his brain since he had been stuck in here, which wasn't saying a lot. But still… in some ways she was a welcome divertion. If only she would stop biting her lips.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Darcy was just growing bored with ignoring Loki when her shift ended. She was relieved by a team of tall men in suits, and as she gathered up her coat and slipped her feet into her heels, she couldn't resist a little smirk over her shoulder at the super-villain in the corner. He was glaring at her, but it was still the first time their eyes had met. His were green, and she was grateful that she already had momentum putting her outside the door because otherwise she might not have been able to start moving again. Outside in the hallway was Thor, who grinned widely when he saw her.

"Darcy Lewis! It is a pleasure to see you again!"

"Right back at ya, big guy," she replied. She hadn't known that he was back in town. Jane had not mentioned it. True their meeting had been rushed and entirely about business, but still. The chick was head over heels for the Norseman - Darcy thought she would have been gushing at least a little.

"Is this the next shift? Awful lot of people just to watch one guy sit around doing nothing."

His smile slowly faded. "Actually, it is time to take him home, Darcy Lewis. We travel to Asgard immediately."

"Oh, sure," Darcy replied, feeling strangely bereft. And here she had just found a job she was competent at. "Did you get a chance to say goodbye to Jane?"

He smiled again, this time a little sadly. "Indeed. We have said goodbye already. I believe she is waiting for you downstairs in the coffee shop."

"I'll find her," Darcy replied, patting one of his large biceps.

"Thank you. Until we meet again." And with a nod, he followed the troop of suits into Loki's prison.

Darcy didn't want to stick around for what would happen next, so she went to find Jane, who just so happened to waiting for her with two lattes in the Starbucks in the lobby, a mopey expression on her face.

"How was it?" Jane asked, handing her one of the cups.

"Boring and utterly anti-climactic," Darcy sighed expansively. "He just sat there. No attempts to escape, no strip tease shows, nothing!?"

Jane glanced around, alarmed, despite the fact that there were only the two of them in the cafe. "Darcy! Shhh!"

"I'm kidding. But seriously. You ever need a babysitter for a hunky super-villian again, you just call me!"

XXXXXXXXXX


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Chapter 3! I wrote a couple of these in a row which is why they're all just about ready to go up at once. Once again, I do not own any of the characters in this universe, nor am I making money off of their names, personalities or likenesses. Instead I am simply writing up new scenarios and posting them here, un-beta-ed, for others reading pleasure. Hope you like!

XXXXXX

Darcy had made that comment to Jane about coming back as a temp in order to cheer her up in the middle of a mopey spell. She had not expected a phone call from Jane - regarding just such a proposal - a few months later in the middle of Thanksgiving break.

"Vegas is fine, my parents are crazy, and my finals are going to rip me a new one. What's up with you, Foster-ella?"

"Darcy, are you interested in a temp job here in New York again?" The poli-sci books in her lap almost fell on the floor. "Darcy? Darcy, are you there?"

"Sure, I'm here. How long would this be? I have finals coming up next week, you know. Another one-day stint or are we talking longer?" Her pulse accelerated as she wondered who she would be babysitting again. Loki? He was supposed to be in Asgard getting his ass handed to him by Odin for wrecking NYC.

"Probably your entire break. They need someone for the overnight… uh… guard shift. You could bring your textbooks if you wanted. I'm sure it would be really quiet for studying! And if it ran late I bet Fury would write you one heck of a doctor's note."

Darcy sighed, but her eyes had drifted over to the student loan notices piling up on her desk, and she already knew what her answer was going to be.

XXXXXX

Apparently even to watch the guy you had to have a pretty high-up security clearance. Knowledge of Thor and Loki were a carefully guarded secret. Darcy happened to know about it already, so it was easy to get her temporary clearance for temp gigs like this. There were a few others who would be sharing shifts with her, although from what Jane hinted at, there weren't many willing to take him on during the overnight shift. Darcy figured that at what they were paying her, she could pay off her last semester of college by the time she had to be back in Nevada for her first final.

As Pepper had explained it to her on her way up to review the room while the "assignment," i.e. Loki, was out, a bargain had been struck wherein he helped the Avengers - whatever they were - and in return he got a reduced sentence on Asgard. Now he was here awaiting his security clearance. In the meantime he wasn't allowed to be left alone. Enter in Darcy and a few other individuals with the highest level security clearance but without the important responsibilities that normally came with that clearance. Naturally there weren't that many of them.

The super-villain had gotten an upgrade in his digs since the last time Darcy had ben called in to watch him. He was now installed in one of Stark's guess suites - heavily modified, of course.

The large, window-less room had been turned into a one-room loft living space that would have fetched quite a price in Manhattan. Instead it now housed an ex-super-villain. It was almost as white as his initial cell had been, with a bed and wash stand in one corner, with a sheer dividing screen placed as a modicum of privacy. A large white sectional sofa divided the sleeping area from the tiled kitchen which boasted an island, mini-fridge and microwave. Darcy idly looked into the cabinets and found plastic bowls, plastic spoons, and instant mac 'n cheese.

She looked at Pepper, eyebrows raised. "Vegetarian?" Pepper shrugged.

The rules were pretty much the same. No electronic devices, no giving him outside information of any sort, try to avoid excessive interaction with him. By special dispensation Darcy was allowed her text books, but nothing sharper than a highlighter. And after all, it was the overnight shift. Hypothetically he should be sleeping most of the time.

XXXXXXXX

The frumpy woman was back. She was sitting in his kitchen on one of his stools when he entered after a long day of interrogations by Fury's minions. She had been bent over a book, hair down and lip beneath her teeth, when he entered with his guards. Her eyes had widened and she had stood immediately. She nodded to the guards as they verified her ID card and checked her credentials over the radio. Apparently her assignment had been recent. Her face turned a pretty shade of red while they were waiting, but finally she passed whatever sort of verification his guards required, as they finally left, locking the two of them in the same room together.

A quick scan of the room revealed her as the only other occupant. Interesting.

With a brief look at him out of the corner of her eye, she sat back down and continued reading. Loki blinked. Maybe it was time for him to have a little fun with her this time around.

"Aren't you supposed to be standing by the door looking bored?" he drawled, standing on the other side of the island counter from where she sat, his hands on either side of her book. Not a book of fiction, he noticed, but an academic one.

She looked up, surprised. Her face scrunched a little in concentration. "Actually that wasn't anywhere in my instructions. Why? Would you feel more comfortable if I did?"

"Not particularly. That's just what all the other servants did."

Her eyes narrowed. "Well that explains it. I'm a temp, not a servant."

He was momentarily sidetracked. "What is a temp?"

"Temporary employee. Not full time. I just get called in for special assignments. So not really a servant." She tilted her head to the side, and he had the impression that she knew he had been trying to insult her. Very well. Lets see if she could handle herself better than the previous people who had come before her.

XXXXXX

Darcy was pretty sure he was doing it all on purpose. The instant mac 'n cheese was indeed the property of Mr. Mischief himself, and in the preparation of said mac 'n cheese he seemed to keep bumping into her, jostling her text book, caressing her hair, and once he had somehow managed to get in an accidental boob-brush. At that last one Darcy had excused herself from the kitchen in frustration and removed herself to the sofa to study. But every time she got to the end of a paragraph she had to reread it because her attention had strayed to the stud muffin parading around in front of her with a bowl of cheesy pasta. First he sat on the stool she had recently vacated. Then he sat on the island itself. Then he sat in the middle of the floor in front of the sofa, practically at her feet.

Admitting momentary defeat, Darcy used one of her note cards as a mark and put the book to the side. She looked at him expectantly, her heart beating a little faster at his intense regard. "Okay Champ, what do you want?"

He pretended to look thoughtful at her question. "My freedom, the fear and respect of the entire universe, my enemies' heads on a platter, and a decent meal."

"That's a tall order. I'll get right to work on that." And then she picked her book back up and reopened to her bookmark.

"On a more serious note, though, it has been a long time since any of my captors have been willing to engage me in conversation." Darcy peeked over her book at his words. His expression seemed innocent, and his story believable enough… "So tell me, why do you persist in dressing like a homeless person?"

Darcy rolled her eyes and returned to her book, determined to ignore him again. Which she did just fine until he got ready for bed. By taking off all of his clothing and stretching.

She reminded herself to keep her mouth closed and eyes down, but there was no way she wasn't sneaking a peek now and then. She was almost sure she got caught doing so, but she refused to blush. He even pulled back his screen so she had a decadent view of him sprawled over his sheets.

"Good night, Lady Captor," he crooned from the covers.

Darcy rolled her eyes again, refusing to comment. But her cheeks might have been a touch pinker than normal, if she was going to be honest.

Staying awake had been more difficult that she imagined. She would probably be pulling all-nighters anyway, but here she had no access to coffee. Every time she had felt herself growing heavy-lidded, she would look over at the slipping ex-super-villain and her adrenaline would kick in. She really had to stop drooling over bad boys, but for now it was the only thing keeping her away while on the job.

Darcy left in the morning before he woke. She flashed the man who replaced her a sympathetic smile as he glanced over and paled at the sleeping figure. "Good luck," she mouthed as she slipped out the door.

She slept soundly for a while in the quarters provided for her while she was staying in the Tower - definitely not as swanky as Loki's, but much more private. She spoke to Pepper and received permission to bring in a cup of coffee the following evening. And she did everything she could to avoid meeting her "assignment" during daylight hours. She wasn't sure she could look at him without picturing him without all of his clothes. Unfortunately her mind persisted in going there anyway, and studying seemed impossible what with the distraction of it. She only hoped she could make it through the rest of the job uneventfully and prepared for her finals. But considering Loki was the job... she probably would not be so lucky.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: I am so surprised and pleased by how many people read the first three chapters! I hope chapter 4 doesn't disappoint!

As always, I don't own any of the characters nor am I making money off of this work of fiction.

XXXXXX

Loki returned to his rooms early that day. He had been put through all sorts of ridiculous fitness tests. He had always loathed that sort of thing - did they really expect him to try to compete with the likes of Thor still? Luckily his results were impressive for mortals and he brushed aside other thoughts like gnats.

Returning to his current and sadly austere accommodations in Stark Tower, he felt a warm flush of memory at the surprisingly entertaining guard he had the pleasure of tormenting last night. He did hope she returned. Ignoring the scornful eyes of his current and admittedly less attractive guard, he set about preparing a special surprise for his Lady Captor, should she return.

XXXXXX

An extremely uncomfortable guard looked relieved when Darcy arrived that night at Loki's suite. Tonight she was armed with a large latte and her textbook. Luckily for her, Loki had already gone to bed. What was strange were the bits of shredded flowers that littered the floor. In fact… they seemed to litter the floor in a direct path to the side of his bed.

Where she discovered he wasn't quite asleep yet.

"And so she returns! I was afraid I had scared you away."

"Shouldn't you be sleeping?" Darcy asked pointedly, making sure the door was shut and locked before replying. "Don't you have important and tiring work you need to rest up for?" She sat on the sofa, ignoring the trail of plant bits and not looking towards his bed where she heard covers rustling. She swore he did it just to try to goad her into looking.

Of course she couldn't avoid noticing when his completely bare backside sauntered past her into the kitchen. His lower half was thankfully hidden by the island when he finally turned around and leaned against the sink. "Not actually, no. I'm not actually doing anything important, yet."

"Jeez, Dude, can't you put on a pair of pants?!" It was out of her mouth before she could stop it.

He smiled triumphantly, as if it had been his goal to make her say that. "What's the matter? Do I make you uncomfortable?"

Darcy rolled her eyes. "Duh. You're naked. And you're doing it on purpose. Okay, what is it you want? Someone to wiggle around naked in front of? An actual human being to talk to who doesn't have a stick up their butt? A game of cards? Because the sooner I know what you're after, the sooner we can arrange for you to get it, the sooner I can go back to studying."

"Well I have been wondering what's underneath all that clothing of yours," he said smoothly. "I wouldn't object to a little bed sport."

"Uh, no. That is so not in my job description," she replied, her eyes narrowing. And yet, part of her wished it was. There she went again. Bad Darcy! As if he could read her thoughts, he gave her a wicked smile.

"Right, ok, so you're in the mood to be awake. I get that. Sometimes I have trouble sleeping too. But here, on Earth, people usually wear more clothing."

XXXX

"And you would like me to conform to your Midgardian customs?" He did not bother to hide the scorn in his voice.

"All I'm saying is that this borders on a potential sexual harassment lawsuit. No wonder you have trouble keeping overnight guards - I bet the others are already forming a class action suit against SHIELD."

He frowned. He only understood about half of those words, but they were enough to make her stop looking so delightfully awkward and instead she looked ... contemplative. Deciding to be magnanimous, he threw on a pair of jeans but left his upper torso bare. He had noticed how she allowed her eyes to linger there and did not want to deprive her of the obviously guilty pleasure of it, if her cheekbones were any indication.

"Now, is that better?" But she wasn't paying attention to him. Instead she had her nose back in her book. He raised on eyebrow as he read the cover. "National Security Policy? And what does a 'temp' like you need with that?"

She lifted one of her own eyebrows in response. "My thoughts exactly. But the Powers That Be say I need it to graduate in June. " She put down her book, looking thoughtful and mischievous all at the same time.

"I guess I should thank you for this class. If you hadn't ransacked New York City this past summer, I would never have been required to take it. I think you owe me a little peace with which to study for said final."

This was a blunt mortal. At least she was entertaining. "Final? As in, an exam? I have always been excellent at those." He sank down in the sofa next to her and tried to pose artfully. He wanted to exude confidence and ease. Sexuality and unattainability.

"Peachy. You're on flash-card duty then, Champ." She held up the book and dozens of small pieces of paper fell on to his carefully poised lap. Loki internally sighed. He supposed he could actually go to bed. He could try to rile her up more. He could continue to ponder how to make Tony Stark's life a little less comfortable… or he could humor her and figure out what was supposed to flash.

"Did you at least like the trail of foliage I left for you to follow?"

"It was lovely. Now, back to the cards."

XXXXXXXXXXX

Loki turned out to be a pretty good study partner, once he was wearing pants. Of course, he got tired part way through and started lying and making up answers, but even that was helpful, in that it kept her on her toes. Eventually though he grew bored of even that and went to bed. Darcy wished she could do the same, except technically she was on duty. She reheated her latte and kept her eyes firmly on her book the rest of her shift. Well, most of the time. If her eyes strayed over to the bed once or twice, who could really blame her?

The following evening Darcy's internal sleep clock had finally reset itself and she felt much more awake and alert. She was on edge the moment she arrived, waiting to see what new tricks Loki would have in store for her. But instead of finding the intense man she was technically paid to stare at all night, she found his hulking brother there instead.

"Darcy Lewis! We meet again! Have you coming looking for me?"

"Darcy Lewis? Is that your name then?" Loki had been there, just off in the kitchen area where she had not initially seen him. He sounded a little annoyed. Maybe they had been having some sort of deep brother-stuff discussion. Well, someone had to be there, and for the next 6 hours it was supposed to be her.

Loki continued, speaking now to his brother. "And actually, Brother, she is here to see me. She is my ... nightly companion."

"Congratulations! But I had no idea you even knew each other!" Thor had drawn the obvious conclusion because of Loki's purposefully ambiguous innuendo.

"Ha ha," Darcy said, making a face. She felt about 12, but something about the so-called God of Mischief brought that out in her. "What he means is I am the overnight guard SHIELD hired on to watch him while he waits for his security clearance."

"She is, I believe, one my 'temps.'"

"I'm one of SHIELD's temps, not one of yours."

"Technicality."

Darcy turned to Thor again, pasting an attempt at a business smile on to her face. "I'm just going to just sit over there," she pointed to the end of the sofa, "and read my book here. You kids catch up."

"No! You must join us!"

Loki looked over at Thor, his trademark eyebrow raised. "I take it you and ... Miss Lewis already know each other?" He made her name sound like question.

"Indeed! She was helping my Jane with her research when I was first banished to Midgard. I was never afraid for Jane after that if I knew she was with Darcy Lewis." Thor grinned, looking down at her.

"I have a taser and I'm not afraid to use it," Darcy explained quickly. "But really, I need to be reading anyway. Finals start Monday."

"Your final what? Are you still working on your studies."

Darcy nodded, trying desperately to keep her attention on Thor. "Studies, yep. And speaking of which, I need to get to them." She finally managed to skirt around the two, and sit on the sofa, as far away from the two as she could. Their personalities were so large there didn't seem to be any air in the room left. She put her book up in front of her face and luckily Thor got the hint. The brothers continued speaking for only a few minutes longer before Thor left for the night.

"Need any more assistance studying for your exam?" The voice came from right over her shoulder, causing her to quickly turn her head. She found herself - and her lips - a few mere inches from Loki's. She pulled back in surprise, although perhaps a split second after she should have.

"Only if you want another boring night ahead of you."

He came around the front of the sofa and lounged next to her, his torso angled away as if he were considering her. "You know, I wouldn't have taken you for a warrior of mortals."

"That's me. All sorts of surprising, I guess."

"Indeed."


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Thanks for continuing to read, everyone! As always, I don't own the characters nor the world in which they live.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Nick Fury sat behind a conference room table and glared at Loki. Loki, for his part, thought he was wearing a charming smile, along with one of his more impressive business ensembles. "I'm going to have my eyes on you, Loki. The terms of the agreement between you, SHIELD and Asgard are simple. Play nice and you get off with only a slap on the wrist."

"I assure you, I am completely aware of the terms of the arrangement."

"Well don't forget who gets to decide if you're playing nice. Me."

"As I said, I am aware."

"Good." Fury slid a manilla envelope over to him, finally. Loki bent down to lift it up. Security Clearance, highest level. About time. He smirked.

"Now, Mr. Fury, perhaps it is time to discuss my staff."

"Your what?"

"My staff. My entourage. Those individuals who will be working for me. Just as your Tin Man has various worker bees working for him, I will need a staff to work for me. Social engagements, data collection and analysis, public relations. That sort of thing." Loki looked up at the frowning Fury. "You did not expect me to make my own coffee, did you?"

"There's a coffee shop in the lobby," he spat out. "What makes you so special that you need to have staff all of your own?"

"Unfortunately public opinion of me isn't that charitable or forgiving at this point in time. By aiding your... Avengers, I will need to do so in a way that does not tarnish its public image. To do that, Mr. Fury, it will take masterful logistics. Luckily I happen to be just such a master but I cannot do it alone. Now, unless you have any more complaints, I have already begun compiling a list of specialists I will need at my disposal." Loki pushed his own manilla envelope over to the man who didn't look happy to be receiving it.

But the man did pick it up, and his eyebrows raised even more as he read down the list. "Weapons specialist? Computer specialist? SHIELD already employs these."

"Yes, but I will need my own who won't have other high priority assignments. I need people who can be completely focused on me."

"And what's this? A 'temp?'"

"Highly essential to my staff. And I have just the person in mind."

XXXXX

Darcy wasn't sure just how long she actually expected this second temp job to last, but she wasn't surprised when Jane came and woke her up the following afternoon to take her to see HR. Last time after they had finished with her there had been a long drawn-out exit interview complete with dire warnings about revealing sensitive information, confiscation of her ID card, and various waivers to sign.

"So, how are you and the Big Guy?" Darcy asked, making conversation in the elevator on the way down. She noticed the blush staining her friend and former boss's cheeks. "Doing the horizontal tango yet?"

"Darcy!"

"What?"

"Can we not talk about this here?"

"I'm about to get my walking papers, Jane. I've maybe only a few hours left on this coast before I have to head back and finish cramming for my finals."

"Haven't you been able to study while you're here?" Jane asked, obviously trying to change the subject.

"I've tried. But do you know how distracting an ex-evil hottie can be when he really puts his mind to it? Talk about the embodiment of sex on two legs!"

"Darcy! You didn't!"

"Nope, but only because you warned me to be professional." Darcy winked at Jane to show that she was just joking, and her friend laughed, relieved.

"Well, I'm glad you didn't. It would have made things awkward if you had."

"How so? He's got his security clearance now, right? That's why I'm going down to HR. I probably won't see him again until you have another staff shortage issue."

"Well... yes and no."

And just then the elevator doors opened and a few suits walked in. Jane clamped up faster than a bootlegger and Darcy was left nibbling her lip anxiously. She and Jane exited the elevator at the appropriate floor, which was when Darcy leaned over and whispered furiously, "Finals, Foster. I have finals starting Monday!"

"I know I know! Just... hear them out."

She did, and frankly it was a good thing she was sitting down. "Temp-to-perm?" she repeated, eyebrows drawing tight as she listened to the HR representative shoving a packets of materials her direction. "As in, I'm temporary now but I will become permanent?"

The woman nodded, her eyes not really fixing on Darcy - or anything - for more than a second or two. She seemed professional, courteous, and over-worked. "Basically you're being hired on in a new temporary position. It has the possibility to become permanent, depending on the necessity of your role, as well as your performance. From what I'm given to understand, it's a ... growth... position."

"I'm still in school."

"Yes, so I see. University of Nevada - Las Vegas. We can have your last semester transferred here to one of the New York colleges, but the completion of your degree is not required for this position."

"I sure as hell want to finish my degree! Do you know how much I've already sunk into getting it? Not to mention the things I've done for credits," she muttered, thinking back to last winter. That was one internship she would never forget.

"As I said, we would arrange everything. You would start after the holiday. In three months there will be a review of the department and we'll assess if we need the additional personnel, and also asses your fit within the project."

"And what exactly is this position?" She pointed to her job title on the top of the offer page. "Personal Temp?"

The woman looked over her notes again briefly. "Apparently it's a new department. They have a need for a personal assistant. There is room to grow the position into more, I've been told. Field assignments, diplomatic possibilities, that sort of thing."

"Uh huh, I'm sure. And just who is heading up this new department?"

"That's classified until you've accepted the position."

"Yeah, I'm sure it is," Darcy replied suspiciously. "How was I offered the job? I don't remember interviewing for it."

The woman shrugged at this. "Sometimes it's a matter of reallocating personnel. In your case, though, I believe you were requested."

Darcy looked at the salary she would be making. She thought again of the bills piled up back in her dorm room in Vegas. "So... you'd want me to come in after the new year?"


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: I'm going away for a few days but I wanted to make sure I got something out before I did. This has a bit of Thor/Jane in it, as well as Darcy/Loki. I hope you like! I also really appreciate the reviews! Loki really is a sexy, sexy man when he puts his mind to it. Once again I do not own the characters, nor am I making any money off of this. I did come up with Marcus Kane, and any resemblance he or his name has to anyone or anything else is purely coincidental.

XXXXX

Darcy sat nervously in the lobby of Stark Towers, sipping hot chocolate. Her face lit up when she saw her friend coming towards her. "Jane!"

"Hey Darcy! How did the move-in go yesterday? I'm sorry I couldn't be there." The other woman leaned over and hugged Darcy's shoulders before settling down in the chair across the table.

"Quick, thanks to you sending over a mythical god to help."

Jane smiled, dimples in her cheeks. "Yeah. Thor said it went well."

"He did all the lifting! That must be pretty convenient at home. I bet he even helps you get the things down from tall shelves, opens jars, deters muggers…."

Jane looked a little embarrassed, but she was still smiling. "Yeah, I guess so. " Jane broke eye contact for a moment, and it was enough for Darcy's anxiety to come back.

"Jane - what in the heck am I doing here? Working for some secret department?"

Her friend leaned in, looking around a little before she spoke in a lowered tone. "Rumor has it that Fury is *not* pleased about the creation of it. He expects it to disband in a matter of months."

"Hence the temp-to-perm instead of full perm," Darcy murmured.

"Do you mind?" Jane asked worriedly. "I know how much you liked Vegas, and coming here is a big change."

"Well, I'm working on finishing up my classes at SUNY while I'm here, and even if this is only a 3-month gig anyway, SHIELD is still paying for those classes. It's a huge relief not to have even more college loans."

"Tell me about it," Jane expelled in a long breath, leaning back. "I feel like I'm up to my ears. SHIELD has been generous in my current stipend, but for how long? I've been getting offers from a few other places with more long-term potential but…"

"But they're not here in the city working with a gorgeous hunk of man meat who is head over heels for you?"

Jane winced and smiled at the same time. "Yeaaah. I don't even know how permanent that will be, you know?"

"Dude, I get it. But you gotta admit, it's pretty sweet now, right?"

Jane looked up and was about to begin when a man in a suit approached their table. Well, half a suit. he was wearing rumpled cargo pants under his black suit jacket. "Darcy Lewis?" he asked, looking down at a PDA/smart-phone in his hand.

"Depends on who is asking."

He looked up, half a smile on his face. An actually pretty cute face, in that scruffy geek kind of way. "Oh, I think this is going to work. I'm Marcus Kane, computer specialist and your new boss. Come on, it's time to meet the Big Guy."

Darcy raised her eyebrows to Jane in mock awe. "The Big Guy?"

"Yeah, my boss. Hop to it, Temp!" The way he said her title was more affectionate rather than condescending, as if he realized how silly it was for a job title. But Darcy just shrugged and gave Jane a wave goodbye as she followed Marcus to the elevator.

XXXXX

Loki. Mother-of-a-Horse Loki, formerly known as the Norse God of Mischief and Lies and confirmed space alien Loki, was her boss's boss. And from the slight smile he gave her when she and Marcus entered the conference room, he was probably the one who had requested her in the department.

Well… that was interesting.

"And here we have the final two members of the team," he continued. He was standing in front of a table holding four other people, dressed to kill in a gorgeous charcoal suit. Darcy didn't really know fashion, as evidence from her piecemeal wardrobe, but it looked expensive and as if it were made for him.

"First, Marcus Kane, Computer Specialist," he said with a smirk, and it was obvious to the room that the man had more skills than simple "computer" ones, "and Darcy Lewis, our Temp."

He said it like it was an important title. Darcy wanted to roll her eyes, but the regard she received from the other sets of eyes was a little apathetic. That was fine for now - but at some point she hoped to graduate from coffee-maker and gopher to having an actual career. Maybe once Fury disbanded the department - or whatever it was - and she had her degree, should could look for jobs in the city. That is, if she still got to keep her apartment.

Realizing she was the only one still standing besides Loki, she quickly sank into a chair next to Marcus. He smiled briefly at her, and a little tension which had been knotting up in her stomach eased. She would hopefully have at least one friend here.

She and Marcus had missed the rest of the introduction of the team members, but she was able to pick up who they likely were from the brief pep talk Loki gave them. He was more business-like and professional than she had ever seen him. This must be how he usually was; much more serious.

"The gist of what we do, Ladies and Gentleman, is to make me look good. I will be assisting SHIELD in whatever capacity they need me in, and you all will help me do that, and help me do that well. I have been informed that any mistakes, infractions, or … bad publicity… will result in my expulsion from SHIELD." He looked as if there was something bitter or sour in his mouth when he said those last few things. Darcy couldn't blame him. She wasn't much for tact sometimes, either.

"To make sure this does not happen, I need to know more than everyone else, be better than everyone else, and do it all without attracting the attention of the general populace." He rested his hand on a stack of folders. "I have prepared some basic information regarding our mission, operating hours and initial projects for each of you. SHIELD has given us a few rooms within which to set up our office, which hopefully will be operational by tomorrow. You will each receive new cell phones from human resources when you arrive here tomorrow. Until then, don't get into too much trouble."

He gave them a wry smile and pushed the folders towards the center of the table. Darcy was about to reach out to look for hers when Loki came around to stand behind her. "Darcy, you're with me. The rest of you, I'll see you tomorrow."

He opened the door and was halfway out before he looked back at her expectantly.

"I'll grab your folder. Meet ya down in the lobby when you have a chance," Marcus said quickly to her.

"Thanks, Boss," she replied, grabbing her purse and heading towards the door.

XXXXX

"I'll need you to contact human resources and arrange for cell phones for the department," he said, getting straight to business. His mind was already busy planning his initial moves within SHIELD.

"Hello Darcy, nice to see you again," the woman next to him muttered. He raised an eyebrow at her but continued walking.

"Ah yes. It is nice to see you again. My favorite Temp."

"SHIELD's temp," she corrected, but she frowned in thought. "But I guess now…"

"My temp," Loki confirmed. He loved the taste of victory.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Sorry this was long in coming. I was away for a while. I will be going back and editing some of the earlier chapters this weekend. I really appreciate all of the comments and the people who come back and read each chapter. Once again, I don't own this, nor am I making any money off of it.

XXXXX

"Am I getting fired?"

This was Darcy's method of greeting her Marcus one morning after a particularly introspective night before.

He sat, eyebrows briefly raised in surprise. "Why do you think that?"

"I don't do anything around here. I mean, I get coffee, I know everyone's health benefit and 401K plans like the back of my hand -"

"A very impressive feat, I must say." He interjected.

"Yes but anyone can do that," she continued, pacing in front of his desk. "I'm a temp and there's nothing here I feel like someone else couldn't pick up. Usually this sort of thing happens right before they fire someone so it doesn't gum up the project."

"As far as I know, Darcy, there are no plans to let you go."

"Are you sure? What if they didn't tell you either?"

"Darcy! You're not getting fired - at least not any time soon. Why are you so paranoid?"

Some of the tension in Darcy's body and she sank into one of the two chairs in front of Marcus' desk. "Because… and I know how this sounds, but I feel… ignored. I mean, there was this whole whirlwind to get me on the team. I was swept up from Vegas, enrolled in school here, a new apartment, security clearance… for what? I know the best ways to the first floor Starbucks depending on the time of day. I know how each person on the team takes their coffee. It seems like they went to an awful lot of work for a …"

"A temp?" he offered.

Darcy nodded, miserable. "Yeah. I kind of thought they had some plan for me."

He was thoughtful for a moment. "How are classes going?"

"Easy. It's one of the benefits to being on the six year plan in college instead of the four."

"What if I started training you on some of the computer work I do? It would require reading textbooks and catching up on the basics, of course, but it would diversify your skill set and you could help me with some of the more labor-intensive projects I'm working on."

Darcy perked up. "I can do a little with computers. I spent a semester as a computer science major."

"Perfect. Why don't we go out to lunch, and I'll assess where you are, knowledge wise, so I know what to recommend you read first."

XXXXX

"Today is the third time this week that your Temp has gone out to lunch with your computer specialist," Tony Stark commented idly. Loki looked up, a frown between his brows.

"So?"

This was not the first time Tony Stark brought up idiotic subjects around Loki. It seemed as if Stark felt it his duty to expose Loki to Human culture in the most annoying way possible. This time he was speaking of two of his staff. He visually brought to mind the two in question.

"Do you suspect them of fraternization?" His mouth twisted wryly. How interesting.

"I was pretty sure when you hired her, you were the one who wanted to fraternize with Darcy. We had to pull a lot of strings to get her out here and enrolled in a new school just so you could have her. Thor really pushed for you. Did you know he was that big of a matchmaker?"

Ah yes, now he remembered. The delightful brunette who had made his initial and subsequent confinement in the care of the Avengers less boring. He had not thought of her recently. Maybe it was time he ordered her around some more. She had a way of being completely unself-conscious when she thought he was not around, and then as soon as she was aware of him, she would get flustered.

"Earth to Loki, are you there Buddy?"

"Please stop waving your hands in front of my face, I can see you perfectly fine," Loki replied dryly, giving Stark a look which clearly expressed his lack of appreciation for the other man's antics. "As for my employees, I merely wished to assemble the optimum staff."

"Riiight. Whatever you say."

Loki frowned and changed the subject back to the security plans they were reviewing, but the thought of checking in on his Temp was planted. He smirked. Maybe he would visit her unobserved and see how long it took her to realize she had a visitor.

XXXXX

Lunch with Marcus had run late. They were at a little Italian restaurant that opened up down the street primarily for the rebuilding business district around Stark Tower and the several financial and office buildings which were open and operational again. Marcus had begun drawing stacks and flow-charts of code on the white table cloth in his explanation, despite the dirty looks he was getting from the wait staff.

Then Marcus's phone pinged. He paused, mid-sentence. His face smoothed over, replacing the animation which had so recently turned his face even more handsome. Darcy had to blink at the sudden transformation. "Is everything okay?" she asked.

"Sure. I just think we have an additional guest for lunch." He waved a waiter over and asked for an additional chair and table cloth. "Add this one to my bill," he said, and rolled it up into a ball. he added it to the brown paper bag of their leftovers.

"Who is joining us?" Darcy asked.

"Loki, I believe. But I think he's already here."

A waiter brought over an additional chair and once he had left, Loki appeared and sat down in it delicately. He was dressed in a suit and a long, lightweight trench coat. Darcy's eyes were probably the size of dinner plates. She knew he could do that, but had never seen it before. And he looked good, too. She averted her eyes, but not before he met hers with a smirk.

"Excellent, Mr. Kane. What gave me away?"

"Your phone," Marcus answered readily enough. "We put a tracking beacon in it for satellite triangulation."

"And it notifies you whenever I am nearby?" Loki asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I figure when I'm working for you, the less surprised I am, the better." Marcus grinned cheekily, and there was an answering nod from Loki, if not approval.

"Very well. You may continue. Would we be able to activate anyone's phone like that?"

Marcus nodded. "Sure. I already have an app for everyone on the team. I could activate the rest of the Avengers' phones as well, although I'm not sure who all of them carry their phones with them."

"Where would Natasha PUT it?" Darcy mused out loud. The two men gave her identical looks. "Or Dr. Banner," she continued defensively.

"You can start immediately," Loki said, turning back to Marcus. "I expect to see you at the office immediately." And then he disappeared again.

"Sorry Darcy. I guess this is the end of our lunch date."

"Thanks for the crash course," she replied, motioning to the table cloth spilling out of the takeout bag. She pointedly ignored the words lunch date and also the feeling it produced inside of her. They were a little fluttery… and a little anxious.

"Come on - let's get back before the Big Guy decides we're taking too long."

XXXXX

Loki scowled, invisible, at their retreating forms. For some reason, seeing the two of them together irritated him. He wanted his employees to work well together. But… she was *his* temp. True, he had forgotten about her for a few weeks. But she still worked for him.

She was obviously favoring this other human with her attention. It felt… it felt as if she had picked sides and chosen Kane over him. Obviously the choice had never been laid out as such and if it had been she would be obliged to select him. But still… it felt a little too much like living back on Asgard and always being the second picked to Thor.

This would never do.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: I don't own any of the characters and I'm not making any money off of this. Thank you thank you thank you to everyone who reads & thank you thank you thank you to everyone who reviews!

XXXXX

Darcy slung her bag full of school books on to the kitchen table in her tiny apartment and dropped her keys into the ceramic bowl on the window sill. Work had been long. Class had been long. Both were energy intensive, now that she was devoting more of her hours at SHIELD to learning from Marcus. She had been thrilled yesterday when he suggested she broaden her skill set. Today she only felt overwhelmed. What she really needed was a nice long shower, fuzzy pajamas, and a glass of wine; not necessarily in that order. Thankfully it was the weekend, and unless there was a big mission, Darcy was one of the few SHIELD employees who had the weekend entirely off.

Darcy pulled out her iPod from her purse and plugged it into the docking station in her bathroom. Once she had her tunes going she stripped and stepped into the shower, allowing the warm water to wash over her as she hummed along with the music.

She managed not to think about work or school for the next 20 minutes. Once finished she wrapped a towel around her body and another around her damp hair. She padded into the kitchen and poured herself a glass of red wine. Her fridge and cabinets were mostly bare, but she had a bottle of Cabernet in the fridge that she should finish soon before it became too old. Back in Vegas she would have cooked more, but she just did not have the time.

Missing her music which was still playing softly in the bathroom, Darcy picked up her phone to check to see if she had any messages while she retrieved it. An app had opened itself on her phone - one Marcus had installed for her yesterday. The Lokicator.

The Lokicator was the nickname Marcus had given his Loki-tracking system. He always knew when Loki popped out of nowhere or tried to sneak up on him, and he had passed the phone app along to Darcy. Which is how she knew that he was currently in her apartment.

She had already seen him appear and disappear from sight, which meant… he was there but invisible? The idea was first and foremost creepy. Second it made her a little mad. Where did he get off just barging in without knocking? What exactly was he doing there - spying on her?

She checked the phone again. It wasn't so precise that she knew what room he was in, but his little dot wasn't exactly next to hers, so she assumed he wasn't in the bathroom with her. Hopefully he had hadn't been when she was showering. If he was, though, she had a shower curtain. As far as she knew, he wasn't able to see through that yet.

Darcy pursed her lips. Well, if he was going to pretend like he wasn't there… there was no reason why she couldn't try to goad him into revealing himself.

XXXXX

Loki had decided to pay a visit to his Temp's residence. Darcy, he reminded himself silently. He had obtained the address from her SHIELD file and transported himself directly there. He considered showing himself, but she seemed to be bathing when he arrived so he hid himself with his magic and waited for her to finish.

He was not expecting her to walk out in nothing but a strip of thin fabric. It just barely covered her luscious curves and he felt himself sitting up straighter and taking notice. She was so unself-conscious about her body when no one was watching, and it was a very nice body. He loved how she stretched to reach a glass from a top shelf of her cabinet, her breasts pressing against the damp fabric. He debated whether or not to reveal himself to her, but he waited a little too long and she went back into the bathroom for a few more minutes before he had a chance to decide.

Why should he, anyway? Maybe he should just enjoy a little bit of voyeurism while he had the chance. When she emerged, Darcy had removed the towel from her hair, and it draped itself down her back. Loki smirked. A smirk which was quickly wiped from his face as she opened her kitchen door and bent over, causing the white fabric to ride up the back of her thighs. He stifled a cough of surprise, instead leaning to the side to get a better view.

Darcy rose again, a large orange in her hand. She stood, facing him, and peeled the orange slowly with her fingers. She lifted each slice one by one to her lips, actions which Loki could not seem to look away from. He loved to watch her put things into her mouth. Just the idea of her doing that to him was enough to send surprising shudders to the more attentive parts of him. He watched her lick off each finger and longed to do the same.

But something was … off. While part of him was enjoying watching her, another part of his mind wondered why it felt … different. When he realized it, realized her body movements were more deliberate, his smirk returned. In the space of a heartbeat he was off her sofa, standing right in front of her, his arms on either side of her, resting on the kitchen counter behind her. He made sure she could see him.

"You knew I was here," he said. It was a statement, not a question.

"Yep," she replied. Her eyes were wide and her breathing was loud in his ears, but she did not look afraid. He had to give her credit for not even appearing startled.

Loki leaned down and inhaled the scent of her, right at the curve of her neck. He was trying to put her ill at ease and make her uncomfortable. Also, he wanted to.

XXXXX

"Did you just sniff me?" Darcy glared at him. It was either glare at him or jump him, and she had to keep it together.

"Indeed," he purred, leaning a back and looking at her. He caged her with his arms. It should feel scarier than it was. That in itself was a warning sign.

"You don't knock. You don't say hello. You just hang out in my apartment like a creepy stalker, all unseen and invisible and hidden!"

"You're being redundant," he pointed out.

"I'm allowed to be in my own apartment!"

"But you're my personal temp -" he began. He looked a little less sure of himself.

"During work hours! This, here," she motioned with her hands to her apartment, which caused the towel to loosen a little, "is called my private life. It happens when I'm not at work. You get to be my boss and order me around during the week, during work hours, but afterwards, it's Darcy-time."

"And you wouldn't want to get to know each other a little more during your Darcy-time?" he asked suggestively, and the confidence was back.

Darcy had to bite back a grin. Instead, she rolled her eyes dramatically. "That would defeat the purpose of Darcy-time. Listen - you're hot and all, but you're a coworker and my boss. And this is not appropriate." Her eyes drifted down to her damp and toweled bosom which was almost plastered against his chest. He was in a suit again.

"On the contrary, I think it's infinitely more appropriate." He leaned in, and Darcy knew that if she didn't slow things down they might not be able to.

"Whoa there, Casanova." She ducked down and slipped out from under one of his arms. She twirled back around to him, holding up her towel which was finally threatening to fall. "I'm going to put on some pajamas and relax a little before I have to sleep. I think you should leave."

His eyes narrowed, but a smile played around his lips. "Alright. I will leave you to your Darcy-time this evening, but there will be a night very soon where I will grow curious enough to find out what exactly you do during your private hours." It was a promise and Darcy couldn't help shivering at its intention. She didn't trust Loki's disappearance until she checked her Lokicator on her phone, only then slithering into PJs.

Falling asleep was difficult. She kept waiting for her phone to ping, notifying her that he was in her apartment again. She strangely thrilled at the idea of it. In terms of stalkers, she supposed, she had a pretty hot one. Oh the things she would do to her stalker if she didn't work for him.

Darcy fell asleep that night with erotic and inappropriate fantasies dancing behind her eyelids.


	9. Chapter 9

Saturday morning Darcy could not find her phone. She looked everywhere for it, despite the fact that she knew she had left it plugged in to her wall charger the night before. It took her a few hours to settle on the conclusion that Loki lifted it so she wouldn't know when he was around.

In retaliation, she wore nothing but a bra and panties around her apartment all day.

There was no sign of him, so she went back to her sweats on Sunday. But that was the day her iPod went missing. She was grouchy and cross, and itching for a fight. So when her doorbell rang Sunday afternoon she opened it with annoyance and irritation. It practically flung open.

"Hey Darcy. You okay?" It was Jane, with Thor at her back. "No one has been able to reach you all weekend and we were sent to make sure you were alright."

"I've been robbed," Darcy replied flatly, opening the door wide for them and moving back into her kitchen. At her unspoken invitation, they entered.

"Oh my gosh, Darcy, what happened?"

"Tell me who did this and I will hunt them down for you, Darcy Lewis."

"Your brother, Loki, did! He stole my phone and my iPod!"

There was a moment of silence in the room, which allowed Darcy's words and tone of voice to reverberate. She sounded childish even to her own ears.

Then Thor began laughed. "Oh Darcy, my friend! Loki used to steal from all the girls on Asgard! It was one of the ways we knew he liked them!"

Jane was the one who gave Thor a skeptical look. "Stealing someone's phone and iPod are *not* acceptable ways to show affection in this world."

"I really like my iPod," Darcy confirmed, pushing her glasses up.

"He means no harm, I am sure of it."

"Then why did he break into and enter my apartment Friday night after I got back from class? The guy is a stalker!"

That gave Thor a moment's pause. "I will speak with him on the matter, if you wish. I agree there are somethings a man should not do in the pursuit of a lady. One of them is to enter her home."

"Just ask him for no more surprises, okay? He can visit the old-fashioned way if he likes - by knocking on the front door." A thought occurred to her then, and she turned to Jane.

"Was there something important I was needed for at SHIELD?" she asked. "You said people had been trying to reach me."

Jane smiled slyly. "Marcus called me. He apparently has been trying to reach you since yesterday. Something about computer homework?"

Darcy smiled. "He's giving me some pointers."

"I'll give him a call for you and let him know you're fine but without a phone." Jane winked and shooed Thor out the door.

Darcy was somewhat surprised when Marcus showed up at her door around dinner time. He carried with him Chinese take-out and a box of computer parts.

"Hands on training?" she asked with a smile, pulling plates out of her cupboard. She was glad she still had some wine left, too.

"Sort of. I heard about your recent theft and thought we might try setting you up with a surveillance system."

The wine turned out to be rancid, despite Marcus's assurances that Loki wasn't anywhere nearby at the time. But they enjoyed the take-out with orange juice and he showed her how to put together the system to she could access it from her home or her phone, once it turned up. They laughed and Darcy flirted a little. At the end of the evening he was charming and gentlemanly and told her he would see her Monday at work. After he left Darcy leaned against the door, eyes squeezed shut. He was adorable and sweet and when he smiled she couldn't help smiling back in response.

Her eyes opened, and they fell on her kitchen counter. Sitting out, as if it had always been there, was an orange.

Darcy blinked. She was pretty sure she was out of oranges. Marcus could have brought it over and forgotten to mention it, but she would have seen it when they were cleaning up the plates and trash from the Chinese food. Her entire body stilled and tensed as she looked at the orange.

When she was goading Loki into revealing himself, she had eaten an orange more seductively than she had ever eaten one before. It had taken quite a bit of creativity at the time, but an orange had never been more delicious. And now here was one, on her counter.

All of the earlier ease Darcy had felt in Marcus' company was gone. Loki had to be here - she could not see him, but it was the only explanation. But their Lokicators had not gone off.

Darcy could have hit her head against something hard and flat if she wasn't so tense. All he had to do was leave his phone at home and their app wouldn't work. He was probably here right now, in her apartment.

And he had left her a message. Eat the orange, and Loki would appear. It happened last time - the orange had been the tipping point with his impatience. Did she want to see him? She could have her chance to yell at him and demand her stuff back. But eating this orange would be a blatant sexual advance, wouldn't it? It would be admitting that she wanted him, which was more than just wanting to see him.

Darcy did not consider herself brave. She had a bad habit of saying things that came into her head before thinking about them, but that was more of an explosion of the mouth. She occasionally challenged authority, but when it came to situations involving death or major life decisions, she played it safe. She wasn't sure which category Loki fell in to. She warred with the thrill of danger - the kind you get when you ride a roller coaster or date a guy with a leather jacket and a motorcycle. Loki had the leather, but he might be more of a death/major life decision than a bad boyfriend.

She had not moved since she noticed the orange. It had been left out once Marcus was gone, indicating that Loki had wanted her alone. There was no getting around the fact that it was a sexual offer, and to eat it would be to accept. Her body felt hyper alert and every air current in her apartment felt like he was nearby, his head near her neck again or his chest close to pressing against hers. She closed her eyes and tried to get ahold of herself. She had to think logically, which was hard when the orange was staring at her.

Loki was her boss. Yes, he was a gorgeous Norse stud muffin who loved showing himself off in the nude, but she would have to work with him every day. The idea that if she started anything with Marcus she would have the same problem, but somehow seeing Loki after - whatever it was he was offering - would be much much worse than if she and Marcus ever got involved. Things with Loki would just be too intense, too personal.

In order to maintain equilibrium at work, she reasoned, this thing with Loki had to go away. Therefore she couldn't eat the orange. She could, however, send him a message.

Darcy moved away from the door, wondering where he was hiding himself. Every brush of furniture against her arms or legs felt like his caress, every creak of the floorboards or hum of an electronic machine sounded like his breathing. She was hyper aware - and hyper aroused.

Darcy scribbled a note on a scrap of paper in her bedroom and walked with a purpose out to her kitchen again. She took a thumb tack from the box of picture-hanging supplies which was on top of her fridge, and pushed it in to the orange, tacking the note to it. Then she turned off the light and crawled under her covers with all her clothes still on. It was self-preservation, she reasoned.

In the morning the orange - and her note - were gone.

And so were her keys.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: The last chapter didn't have much of Loki in it, so this chapter will be spent catching up with him somewhat. As always, I own nothing and I'm making no profit from these (other than my own enjoyment). I recently read a lovely fic about Darcy & Loki sexting, and while I'd never want to steal someone else's story idea, I liked the idea of one of the characters contemplating it.

XXXXX

Loki had enjoyed taunting Darcy and was eager to resume their foreplay. He was looking forward to it so much that he had not considered that she might be entertaining someone else. It was fortunate that he had arrived unseen and invisible, otherwise the happily conversing pair would have laughed at his confused expression.

Didn't she understand that he possessed her? That he had staked her as his, and would therefore remain so until he finished entertaining himself with her? He had thought that she had also been enjoying herself with their flirtations. Darcy had willingly tantalized him while he was being held at SHIELD, had teased him with her damp flesh just the other night, and had done unbelievably hot things with her mouth and an orange. All, he had assumed, for his benefit.

He considered for a moment, his body hanging loosely while he pondered the problem. He was aware that Midgardian women often had male friends. Maybe he was biased, but she wasn't radiating friendship at the moment. In fact, he thought she oozed sex appeal as pheromones. He was also aware that Midgardian women sometimes had multiple bed partners, and perhaps Darcy thought that she would do likewise. His eyes narrowed. A few days ago he had almost forgotten Darcy, but now she had his full attention, and he expected no less from her.

Loki never considered himself a cheat. Instead, he liked learning the rules to a game, and figuring out how they could work to his advantage. He did what he could to shorten the couple's evening; souring the wine and tainting the flavor of the food in the mortal man's mouth. He recognized the male; he was one of the useful ones on his staff. Nonetheless, he did not want him extending his stay with Darcy.

The man finally left and Loki was alone with his temptress. Strange, how enraptured this mortal had made him. He frowned, considering the idea that it was some sort of sorcery. But no, he would have felt the use of magic on him. Now, how would he go about ensnaring her as well?

It would have to start with fruit. All the best stories of seduction start out that way, especially in Midgardian lore. His favorites were the seductions of Eve and Persephone, the latter of which perhaps got the better bargain.

Loki pulled an orange to him using magic and set it on the counter for Darcy to find. She would recognize it, of course, from her own challenge the night before. He was simply accepting. He sat back and waited, an anticipatory smile on his face.

A smile which turned into a frown when she did not act upon the orange as he had anticipated. In fact, she ignored it. He thought she was going to ignore him altogether until she stuck a note to his offering. A note! She could have simply opened her mouth and spoken it to him; she obviously knew he was there. But instead of playing tonight, she decided to mock him.

Darcy slammed her bedroom door, leaving him on the other side of it. It was inconceivable that she would have brought him along this way, teasing and silently promising things, and thusly deny him. She had started this game and it was too late for her to quit now.

Loki discarded the orange in frustration, but her note was clenched tight in his fist as he left. This was not over, not by any stretch of his explicit and lurid imagination. Monday he would show her just that.

XXXXX

Darcy was furious at the loss of her keys. She remembered placing them - like she always did - in the bowl on her window sill. Of course Loki was the one who had taken them. He was probably still bitter about her not taking him up on his booty call the night before. She grumbled to herself as she opened her window and looked out at the fire escape.

Darcy lived on the second floor of a Brooklyn apartment building which was far enough away from the attack site to have received minimal damage. Most of the apartments in Manhattan proper were vacant and unlivable. A car came for her every morning to bring her to work as the subways weren't running reliably yet. She had sent an Email over to Jane letting her know that she would need help getting back into her apartment after work, but her tone had been rather professional about the entire thing. Of the two of them involved in this, someone had to be the adult.

Of course, she had to climb out her window and dangle off of her fire escape until she got up the nerve to let go. She got a run in her stockings, scuffed up one of her shoes, and her hair came loose from its twist. By the time she made it to the car, she wasn't feeling very adult anymore. Her usual drive, a down to earth Italian fellow named Carlisle, was on a rather personal and explicit phone call when she entered the car. It took him a minute or two to wrap it up - apparently the woman on the other end demanded loud participation.

"Phone sex, huh?" she asked him straight out once he had finished.

Carlisle had the decency to blush. "In my line of work, it is safer than sexting, yes?"

Darcy wondered briefly if Loki had ever heard of sexting, but quickly suppressed the idea. Her goal was stop provoking him, not encourage him, right?

But on the way to work it seemed as if everything reminded her of him. They passed a rather indecent billboard of a man and women embracing, dressed only in underwear. Television repair stores blared porn in their front windows to the breakfast crowd bustling down the streets. Carlisle's phone sex lover called back and demanded another round - this time he put up the dividing window between them, but he was still loud enough for her to hear his vigorous shouts and creative dirty talk. Whenever she thought of sex, the image of Loki, pressed up against her wearing nothing but a towel came to mind. Where she was in nothing but a towel, but come to think of it, he would look good in a towel, too. She already knew he looked good in nothing...

Darcy's libido was in overdrive. It shouldn't be - she was stressed over work and classes - but she could think of nothing else all morning. She even thought she saw a naked couple in her Starbucks coffee foam.

Jane met her in the lobby. "What happened to your keys?" She asked anxiously.

"Loki, pretty sure. I had to break out of my own apartment and climb down the fire escape. Did you know both he and Marcus managed to stop by last night?"

"At the same time?"

"No, I don't think so. But between the two of them I'm starting to get hot flashes, Jane! A girl can only take so much local hotness before the clothes start coming off." Was it her or was the lobby getting hotter?

Jane looked at Darcy, concerned. "You're going to be fine," she assured her, then dropped her voice into a whisper, "and you certainly WILL keep all your clothes on! Now, get your butt up there and remember to be professional!"

Right. Professional. Tell that to the two contractors locking lips at one of the cafe tables. Darcy rolled her eyes and mouthed "Yes Mother," but in truth she needed a little but of Jane's sanity right now. She needed a little bit of grounding to remind her why she needed to keep her work life and private life separate. Now all she had to do was get her mind off sex long enough to do so.


	11. Chapter 11

Loki was in a foul mood.

He had been summoned to an excessively boring meeting to discuss Jotenheim, and his nosey brother had cornered him and began one of the most awkward conversations they two of them had ever had.

"When an Asgardian, such as ourselves, decides to form an attachment to a Midgard woman…"

Loki engineered a creative diversion to halt the conversation before his brother said anything he would regret. He waved off Thor's "We are not finished discussing this, Brother," but both were probably relieved not to have to finish. They two of them never did see eye to eye where women were concerned.

But the conversation did cause him to remember the enjoyment he had with Darcy Friday evening, and then the annoyance he felt on Sunday. It was the note, though, that had really turned his lustful anticipation into a simmering burn. She had not only declined to eat the orange, but she had skewered it with a verbal denial as well.

It wasn't as if she wasn't interested in him. He could feel her desire. It was only a matter of time before she gave in to him. He gave an almost imperceptible smile of satisfaction. He was definitely helping that eventuality along.

XXXXX

Darcy was in a foul mood. She felt over-heated and on edge. She was sitting in on a meeting with some of the Avengers who had gone ona recent mission, at the request of Marcus. He wanted her to take notes so he was free to participate more in asking questions.

Clint and Natasha had recently returned from an excavation of New York City's ports which had substantial damage to its technology infrastructure. Natasha was standing at the head of the room in front of a large map projected onto the back wall.

"As you can see, from this map as well as the footage we took, sexual proximity to this penetration point correlates to amount of damage. The closer to the epicenter of the orgasm, the more corroded the underground supports are."

Darcy almost spit out her coffee. She coughed a few times, trying to clear her throat. Had Natasha said what she thought she said? No one else seemed surprised by her words - in fact, they were all looking at her with concern, not Natasha. Okay… maybe she misheard.

She gave a weak smile to Clint who was looking at her with concern. Natasha cleared her throat to regain the attention of the room again, and continued. Darcy had to pull it together! "Remain professional, keep clothes on," she repeated to herself under her breath. Marcus must have heard, because he pulled her aside after the meeting was over.

"Everything okay, Darcy?"

Darcy sighed. "My keys were missing this morning, and now I'm feeling over-heated and a little light-headed."

He frowned. "Maybe it was the Chinese food last night. I thought it tasted funny. Why don't you take a quick trip up to the infirmary and have them check you out? Food poisoning is pretty rough."

"Good idea," she nodded, although frankly Darcy did not think it was the Chinese food. But maybe lying down in a sterile environment would be just the dash of cold-water her system needed.

The infirmary was usually for the main team of Avengers who endangered their lives on a regular basis, and for the SHIELD agents who supported them. Darcy had never had a reason to visit, and so was surprised to find it empty except for Dr. Banner.

"I'm sorry," Darcy said hesitantly. "I'm looking for the infirmary?"

"No, you've found it. Is everything alright?" He was standing over by a counter surrounded by a few charts, syringes, and a computer which looked as if it was running a large chunk of data. Charts and lights flashed across the screen like it did on forensic television shows.

"Yes," she nodded, "well, I think I might be coming down with something. I thought I might lay down for a little while and see if the symptoms passed. I didn't mean to interrupt you." She looked at his rolled up sleeves and wondered if he was running the tests on himself.

"Darcy, right? Jane Foster's assistant?"

She looked up, surprised. "Yes! How did you know?"

"She mentioned you here and there. She credits you with keeping her grounded during the early phase of her research. Let me take a look and see how you are doing."

"I didn't know you were a medical doctor."

"I won't tell if you won't," he said with a wink. Oh jeez, there went her libido, thinking he was making some sort of strange sexual advance. She had never been into the doctor/nurse/patient fetish, but now she wondered how many couples had taken advantage of the private rooms and beds just off the main infirmary room.

Dr. Banner pulled out a little light and shined it in her eyes. He put his hand on her wrist and checked her pulse, and felt her forehead. He frowned a little, sitting back. "I don't mean to pry, but in this instance I need to ask. Are you currently on any drugs? Prescription or otherwise?"

Darcy blinked. "Well, birth control and allergy meds, but that's about it."

"Hm. Because you seem to be exhibiting signs of drug use, Miss Lewis. Would you consent to a drug test if we needed it?"

Her jaw dropped open. "Drugs?! I 've never done drugs! Well, there was the one time in high school where I went to a party and it was everywhere and the door was closed but I'm not sure that even really counts. And then once in college I ate some baked goods at a bake sale which I swear had something in them -"

He held up his hand to stop her rambling. "Miss Lewis, I'm not accusing you of anything, nor if it did turn out you were using would I be the kind of person to turn you in for it. However, if you didn't knowingly take anything, we will need to ascertain how you became exposed to it."

"Well shit," Darcy breathed. "Maybe it really was the Chinese food."

An hour or two later, Darcy was napping in one of the back rooms, a cold wash cloth against her neck. The door was open and she could hear voices in the other room. She was still half asleep, but she heard Jane's voice, and Dr. Banner's.

"You think she was drugged?"

"She says she didn't ingest it on purpose and I have to believe her. She exhibited no signs of deception."

"She's pretty bad at poker, too," Jane sighed, but there was earnest concern in her voice. "Were you able to identify it?"

"Nothing shows up in her system, blood or otherwise, but her systems are persisting. I'm concerned she's been exposed to something extra-terrestrial."

The silence extended a few heartbeats before Jane spoke again. "Loki has recently become rather involved in her career. He requested her for his department, and has recently begun causing mischief for her. Thor thinks his interest in her may have taken a, ah, less than professional turn."

"If he is the one causing this, it might be why my tests haven't revealed anything. Maybe we should have Thor speak to him."

Darcy frowned, still sleepy. Did she just hear what she thought she heard? Had her hot, creepy stalker drugged her with some weird alien drug? If she hadn't been pissed at him before, she definitely was now. She struggled to wake all the way up, but the conversation in the next room over had ended. Now that she knew she wasn't going crazy, she had a serious bone to pick with her boss.


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: Sorry it took so long to update! And I'm sorry the previous one was so creepy. But Loki has to be a dynamic character so he has to do something so drastic he's forced to change. Lets hope for the better. As always, I own none of this.

XXXXX

"You are seriously creepy, dude." Darcy stood, arms crossed over her chest, glaring down at the most handsome and stupid man (alien?) she had ever met.

He raised a single eyebrow. "Oh?"

"I've requested a department transfer, and with the strong recommendations of some other people who agree with me, it was granted."

If she wasn't feeling so upset over everything that he had done, she might have been more pleased by his surprised expression. "A department transfer? Oh no. That is unacceptable."

"It's effective immediately. Which means you're no longer my boss, which means I can be completely free to tell you exactly what kind of jerk you have been to me." He frowned, and she could see the gears turning in his head. Fine. Let him think. While he tried to think himself out of this shit storm, she was going to give him a piece of her mind.

"Since I met you, Loki, you've crossed all sorts of professional boundaries. You invade my personal space, steal things from me, *drug* me, and try to manipulate me. What you don't understand is that you don't get to do that here. Not now, not ever. Nick Fury is even seriously considering whether or not your latest stunt violates your agreement with SHIELD and Asgard." Stupid glasses were falling down her nose. She pushed them up, frustrated.

At that he looked up and his gaze sharpened on her again. "I don't understand."

"You drugged me! You compromised an employee of SHIELD!"

"You are *my* employee."

"No! I'm not! I'm a person, Loki. A real life, living and breathing person you decided to play with to amuse you. Well, I've had enough. The human race has had enough. So why don't you go and find your little horns and high-tail it out of New York City, okay?" She puffed hair out of her face which had fallen in her tirade. Her body felt on edge and she longed to leave while she had the upper hand. The door to his office was shut, but she was close enough she could be out of there in only a few seconds.

"Before you go, Darcy, would you explain something to me?"

He sounded… reasonable. If she said no she would turn her into the childish one here instead of him. She nodded, resigned. "What piece of earth-custom confuses you now?"

"I thought you desired me." Gone was the bravado she was so used to hearing in his voice. She had to blink a few times to realize he was serious.

"What do you mean?" She sat down cautiously in one of the chairs in front of his desk, pulling it out so that it was further away from his desk. She crossed her arms over her chest defensively.

"Your responses to me. I thought you desired me."

"Maybe I do - did. But there's no way this could ever work," she motioned between the two of them. "You broke into my apartment, spied on me-"

"What was I supposed to have done?"

"I'm not a toy for you to play with, Loki. Men here call a woman up that they like and invite her for coffee or dinner. You crossed several lines of proper behavior and ventured into the realm of the scary."

"I thought you were encouraging me, with the orange, with the towel." he looked honestly curious. "I am positive I did not misread your interest in me then."

Darcy blushed. "I'll admit, I like to live a little edgy. But you're like a Swiss army knife full of razor blades. Then you moved way too fast and expected me to just fall into bed with you."

"We might have eventually made it to the bed, after the surfaces in your kitchen," he nodded in agreement.

And just like that the residue from Loki's magic kick-started Darcy's sexual imagination and she was hot and bothered. And angry. "No! You don't get to try to turn me on any more!"

He paused, thoughtful. "It seems as though, despite the fact that you already desire me, you are determined to deny me."

"Listen, I'm going to give you a piece of advice about us Earth girls. We like to be wanted. We also like to be wooed. You can't just assume that if a girl likes you she's going to sleep with you. And the more you do things that are creepy - spying, stalking, drugging, just to name a few, the less likely that is."

"So you will continue to deny me for… how long?"

"That ship has sailed, Loki. It left the harbor right around the time you took my iPod."

"So… I am to pretend that you are not interested and … attempt to woo you?"

"What part of 'that ship has sailed' didn't you understand?"

"Actually, most of it. But I assume it is some sort of metaphor you are trying to use to convince yourself that you no longer desire me. Despite the obvious evidence to the contrary."

She glared at him. She did not miss his fleeting smug smile.

"In truth, Darcy, you might be right. Far too often the women I met on Asgard used me as a way to get to my brother. The feeling of being wanted, being desired, is quite the aphrodisiac. I may have been… over-assertive."

Did he just apologize? She opened her mouth to clarify, but he continued, changing the subject. "So. Now you are no longer my personal temp. What will you be doing?"

"I'm working for Jane again," she said, standing up and moving to behind the chair. She needed distance from him.

"You will grow bored there," he predicted. This reminded Darcy that she was angry.

"I like Jane. She's a great boss."

"But you are smarter than that. You would be reduced to doing clerical work for her."

"It's more than I was doing for you."

"Please don't take my calculated implementation of personnel as a deficiency, just because I didn't burden you with busy work." He seemed offended. "I learned some time ago while you were studying for your exams that you possess a keen intellect, able to synthesize data and sometimes come up with insightful conclusions. This talent will be wasted in Jane's laboratory. Just as your affections are wasted on Mr. Kane."

"Who I work with or who I am friends with no longer concern you." Was he jealous?

"I disagree," he said with a shrug.

"This conversation is over," Darcy said with a flounce, and whipped open his office door. She slammed the door and headed straight for the elevator to the first floor for the largest cup of hot chocolate she could find.

XXXXX

Loki frowned at Darcy's retreating back. Perhaps he had miscalculated. Asgardian women were much more reserved than the women here. On Asgard, a man wooed a woman until she desired him, and then he took her to bed. From the television shows he had been encouraged to start watching, he assumed that women here skipped the courtship step and went straight to the bedroom. He had indeed taken for granted that her evidence - and admittance - of her desire for him were acceptance. How else was he supposed to have interpreted their foreplay?

But Loki was not concerned about her temporary state of anger, or even her attempts to avoid him at work. He wasn't called Silver Tongue for nothing. She had been right about one thing - he did consider her a toy to amuse him. But isn't that what people did? Entertained themselves with those around him?

He had enough work at SHIELD to keep him busy, if he liked. But Darcy had provided something more to his monotonous days. He was not about to give that up.


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: Hopefully this chapter will go towards soothing the poor ruffled feathers of Darcy, and also fans of Loki. I don't own anything here.

XXXXX

Darcy's new study method was to sprawl face-up on her bed, her text book open and across her face, and nap. The information would seep slowly into her skin, she reasoned. She had a hard enough time staying awake at work now - she could be forgiven for evening naps.

Darcy's new job was, unfortunately, almost as dull as Loki had predicted. She was the only one without a degree in astrophysics or whatever, and so she was reduced to data entry. At least before she understood the work around her. Now she just felt lost in a sea of numbers and technical jargon.

Jane was kind and helped her along somewhat. An Einstein-Rosen bridge was like a worm-hole, there were lots of different types of particles in the universe, and space between things was all relative. Darcy felt as if she had better start watching Star Trek or something to try to understand what was going on around her. Someday she would be promoted to a light watcher - as in, if this light goes off, freak out and tell someone - and she needed to be prepared.

Marcus came by sometimes, but he seemed more reserved. He recommended a few textbooks for her to read if she wanted to pursue the computer networking and security angle, but he almost sounded as if he didn't expect her to.

And then there was class. Boring boring boring. She wondered why she ever left Vegas. Oh right - she didn't really have a choice. At least she wouldn't have to worry about her student loan. By the end of the year she would hopefully be most of the way through her college debt. That alone should be a relief to her parents.

She missed her parents. More than anything, the absence of Loki and his weird way of showing attention left her feeling lonely. Maybe she would pay them a visit. There was a long weekend coming up, and Darcy wouldn't be expected to come in to work. It would be easy to call them up and say she was coming to visit. The idea was so tempting it almost hurt.

She was still getting up the nerve to call her mother when there was a knock at the door.

Darcy wished she could say that she was completely unhappy with the identity of the visitor at her door. Her body had tensed when she saw him through her peephole - and not entirely in a bad way. But the fact that he bothered to knock - and stand on that side of the door at all - were so unusual she almost didn't acknowledge the fact that she was there.

"I can hear you breathing," he said quietly, looking straight up at her. She knew he couldn't see her, but the effect was enough to make her shiver.

He was as breathtakingly handsome as ever. She had spent the past week at work avoiding seeing Loki, but that had done nothing to keep her mind off of him.

She opened the door. "You knocked." It was both a question and a statement.

He smirked. "You told me you preferred that. I wanted to let you know that I have been watching an absurd amount of popular television in order to better understand how I offended you."

"I can't tell if you sound horrified or thrilled."

"Perhaps a little of both. May I come in, Darcy?" He gestured inside.

"If I said no, would that stop you?"

"I did ask."

Darcy gave a half shrug and backed away from the door, letting him in. She closed it behind him as he continued forward into her kitchen. "So what kind of epiphanies have you had?"

"A number of contradictory things. Men who have sex with many women are thought well of, while women who have sex with many men are not. "

Darcy nodded, sadly. "That one sucks. It's the idea of the princess or the whore."

"I beg your pardon?" he asked. His eyebrows were lofted quite high in mock outrage.

"You know. Men want two types of women - whores they have sex with and the virgin princess they bring home to their mothers."

"Ah. And you take insult from this?" He looked pointedly at her crossed arms.

"Definitely! I've never met a single woman who was either one or the other! We all want to be treated like a princess, whether or not we tend to be whorish!"

"And would it be … impolite… of me to inquire whether or not you would describe yourself as whorish? I am simply curious."

"Yes, it would be impolite. But I'll answer that anyway. I don't consider myself whorish - just sexually liberated. And that does not mean I fall into bed with any guy who wants me!" She gave him a meaningful look, and hoped he took the hint. Just because he was drop-dead sexy with his piercing green eyes and delicious abs and he looked at her like she was the last truffle in a Godiva store, didn't mean she had to take crap from him! No sir!

"Certainly not. Do you mind if I sit?" He motioned to one of the two kitchen chairs at her tiny kitchen table.

"Sure." When had he ever asked her for permission to sit before? What had gotten into Loki tonight? She wanted to know, so she asked him. "What's gotten into you tonight?"

"Gotten into me?"

"You're acting differently," she explained with a wave of her hands, also sitting down at the table. It felt like they were actually going to have a civilized conversation for a change.

"Ah, that. I realized that most of your negative perception of me came from cultural misunderstandings on both of our parts."

"You stole my iPod, keys AND my cell phone."

"All of which were returned promptly Monday morning."

"They day you drugged me with horny magic."

"Like I said, a cultural misunderstanding."

"That's one hell of a cultural misunderstanding."

"On Asgard, it would not be uncommon for magically inclined lovers to use their magic to heighten the passion between them."

His eyes were beginning to heat up and he was *looking* at her. The way a guy you know you're probably going home with makes eyes at you from across the bar. The way someone looks when they see something they want and are intending to go after. There was a responding wave of heat the rolled through Darcy that left her feeling tingly.

"Uh… well, we don't do that here on Earth. Use magic. During sex." She coughed, uncomfortable. "Can… I get you any water?"

"Yes, I would appreciate that."

Darcy hopped up and busied herself with getting out cups and water, keeping her back to him so she had time to compose herself. Otherwise she might do something crazy. "So, what else did you learn by watching television?"

"I learned that dedicated persistance in pursuit of a woman usually pays off."

"What?!" She turned around abruptly, and found herself nose-to-nose (give or take half a foot) with Loki.

"When a man, especially an attractive one, is initially rebuffed, persistence can often result in a different response."

"I didn't hear you get up from the table," she muttered. Luckily she hadn't dropped the jug of water. She sidled past him and turned to pour, her eyes glancing at him sideways. Louder, she said, "Well, that's just going to have to wait. I'm leaving to see my parents for a few days."

She hadn't really made a decision until just now. But being so near to him, in a room that felt like it was shrinking by the minute, she needed a chance to breathe and step back, preferably before she ended up asking if she could kiss him or something else ridiculous.

"That sound like a wonderful idea. I'm sure they miss you." Darcy glared at him. She never trusted when he sounded genuine. "Besides, you probably need a break from all the stress of working at SHIELD. They're not working you too hard, I trust?"

Darcy snorted. "As if. No, it's as boring as you said it would be. But I do feel like what they're doing is for a good cause."

"Well I am glad then that you have found satisfaction there."

Yeah... her sarcasm meter was going off. "So, just to clarify," she cleared her throat and returned to a previous subject, "you apologized, right?"

"Indeed. I have been made aware that my conduct towards you was less than culturally appropriate and made you uncomfortable and unreceptive to my attentions." His eyes were hot and intense and his gaze captured hers. "I deeply regret that. I look forward to rectifying the situation in the near future."

She was in so much trouble.


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: I couldn't help myself.

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters and I am making no money off of this story.

XXXXX

It was actually a few weeks before Darcy was able to get away for her trip to visit her parents. The airport security was a breeze, which was surprising. But once they scanned her drivers license, something SHIELD related must have popped up on their screens because she was whisked through the line without even having to take her shoes off.

Her seat was a cramped little middle-seat she managed to purchase last-minute, in between a chain smoker (who reeked) and a businessman (who snored). Darcy put on her headphones and turned her iPod up and resigned herself to an uncomfortable flight.

About an hour into the flight, the smoker, on the aisle, stood up to use the lavatory. Deciding to use that time to stretch her legs, Darcy stood and walked towards the front of the plane. Ahead of her a flight attendant was standing in the little galley which separated the cramped economy class from the swanky, leather-upholstered luxury class. She was abnormally tall, and as Darcy approached, she turned. The woman had been speaking with a dark-haired man in a finely tailored grey suit … who also had amazing green eyes.

"Loki?"

He did not look surprised to see her. "Darcy! I had no idea you were on the same flight as me!"

"Uh huh. Why don't I believe you?" But she couldn't help smiling anyway. It was just like him to crash her visit. He had been on his best behavior with her recently - he had not stolen anything or broken anything of hers in quite some time. In fact, he'd even seemed ... distant. He would smirk at her in the hallways, as per normal, but he was often rushing somewhere and their interactions were brief. That was what she had wanted… right? A professional relationship?

"Wishful thinking?" he grinned. "Where are you sitting?"

Darcy pointed back the way she had come. The flight attendant fluffed her hair and gave Darcy a nasty look. "I'm sorry, but only executive passengers are allowed in the executive area."

"Actually, I purchased an additional seat, in the executive area, for my brother who declined to make this trip with me. Would you be interested in taking it, Miss Lewis? I'm sure no one would mind." He gave the flight attendant a wink and she practically fainted.

"That would rock!" Darcy exclaimed, before she thought better of it.

"It's settled then. Charlene here will gather your things and you can come right up here with me." He took her hand and at the contact her hand caught fire. Her entire focus centered on that touch. His hand was warmer than she expected, but it was firm. With her eyes she followed up the line of his arm to his shoulders and then into his face. His stupid, perfect face.

Loki lifted one eyebrow in amusement. He gave her hand a tug and she followed.

XXXXX

Loki accepted a glass of white wine from one of the servers and glanced at the woman pretending to sleep next to him. He allowed himself a smug smile.

After the debacle when the Avengers had over-reacted at his use of magic on her, several of them had made it their personal mission to meddle in his plans regarding Darcy. Dr. Banner was the surprising one. He acted unexpectedly over-protective and came close to threatening him. Loki had to promise not to use his magic upon Darcy - against her will. The last caveat Loki insisted upon. What if they were in the middle of a battle? What if Stark Tower was attacked? For that matter, what if he wished to whisk her away to his bedroom at a moment's notice?

Tony Stark's interest had not been a surprise. If there had ever been a nosier Midgardian, Loki had not met him yet. Stark had given Loki a few pointers - unwanted - on Midgard women. "Apologize for being a dumbass, then leave." There were various other pieces of unwanted advice thrown out as well, which Loki had chosen to ignore. But one had stuck with him - play hard to get.

So Loki had "given Darcy her space" after he smoothed things over with her. Her glances in the hallway had indeed grown less hostile and wary, and more appreciative. She actually looked pleased to see him today. Which only reaffirmed his belief in her desire for him. Even now she feigned sleep so she could caress him with her eyes.

Loki picked up one of her hands and watched her face closely. So she was going to remain pretending to sleep? That was fine with him. He brought up each of her fingers and places kisses on them. He reveled in the way her breathing sped up and turned shallow. Her lashes were dark against her pale skin and if he were not in a plane full of people, he would be sorely tempted to seduce her right there. As it was, she would never allow his attentions in public, as far as he could assume, and there were too many witnesses for him to disappear with her. While he could successfully leave a double of himself in the seat, he could not render the same for her.

Loki's pager went off. His phone was properly turned off (he now used a new phone every 3-4 days to prevent being tracked by it anymore) but he had the emergency Avenger pager with him. It could display alphanumeric messages, and access to send to it was highly limited.

LOOK OUTSIDE YOUR WINDOW

Loki did, and was greeted with a view of Tony Stark's metal ass. He sighed.

Loki leaned down into Darcy's hair and allowed himself a moment to enjoy its soft scent before speaking. "You might want to wake up, Dear. We have company."

"Hmm?" She kept up the ruse of being sleepy.

"Tony Stark is at the window."

That got her awake and the top of her head almost collided with his chin. "What on earth? Why?"

EMERGENCY. NEED YOU.

Still holding her had, Loki lifted her palm to his mouth. He breathed on it gently, then kissed it. Her pupils dilated. Damn Tony Stark and his emergency.

"I have to go. There's an crisis the Avengers need me for. I'm sorry to cut our afternoon short."

"You're leaving now?"

He nodded.

"It is dangerous?"

"Likely."

He didn't even see the decision in her eyes before she acted on it, smashing her lips against his. Sweet victory coursed through his blood at the feel of her - he wanted to reach out and hold her to him - but she pulled back almost instantly.

"I'm sorry," she started. "Well, no, I'm not, actually. Be safe, save the world, yada yada."

He grinned, aware that it might have seemed very toothy and predatory. "I for one am glad you are not sorry, because I intend a repeat of just that at a time in the very near future in a place much more private. However, in order not to alert the other passengers and crew here, I am going to leave a doppleganger in my seat for the duration of the flight. He will disappear once you begin to disembark. And if you start kissing *him*, I will be most jealous."

She grinned mischievously at him, and licked her lips. He leaned in and whispered, "You look delicious right now, hair mussed and still slightly sleepy. I will think of you like this while I am away." He placed one more kiss on her hand, this time on the back of it, and disappeared. He knew in a split second another version of him would appear, but it would be insubstantial.

"Nice, Slick! I saw that kiss! I guess I really do know what I'm talking about when it comes to women!"

Loki had transported himself to the main flight deck of the helicarrier, where Tony Stark met him a few moments later. It was flying west, coincidentally along a similar flight path to the plane Darcy had been on. He presumed the other Avengers were already on board.

"I told you I required several hours. I can join you wherever you are, you know."

Stark sobered instantly. "Well, our timetable got pushed up. Come on - Fury's ready to debrief as soon as we get there."

With a last look outside in the vague direction of Darcy's plane, the two of them headed inside.


	15. Chapter 15

A/N: Sorry it's taken so long to update. Things got busy and I got productive and this kinda fell to the side. But definitely not forgotten!

Disclaimer: As always, I own nothing!

XXXXX

It wasn't long after he kissed her hand that Darcy realized he had left and replaced himself with a copy. Her fingers passed through the arm draped over their shared armrest, and she pulled back in surprise. It was like her hands went through a hologram. At least she was spared the awkwardness from her rash decision to kiss him; the copy of him barely looked at her.

What had she been thinking?! Had she forgotten how predatory he had been before - not to mention creepy? Had she been completely wooed by his apology and charming ways in such a short time?

Yes, yes she had.

And it was not long after that thought that the mean flight attendant showed up with very large security personnel in tow. Maybe she was going to have to go back to her tiny seat after all.

"Sir, we're going to have to ask you to come with us for a moment." They were looking at Loki… not at her!

But his image just looked at them with cool disdain. "No thank you," it replied politely. Darcy wondered how much autonomy it had to respond to the situation around it. Would it have said the same thing regardless of the question asked? Should she try to stand up for this pseudo-Loki? On second thought, it was probably best not to get involved in an incident on an airplane. Act cool, she told herself.

"Sir, we really must insist." The large man moved to grab Loki's arm, and his hand went straight through. As if disbelieving what happened, he made to grab more of him. The image of Loki flickered.

Darcy decided to play dump. She jumped out of her seat in mock surprise to stand next to the flight attendant. "Whoa. What was that?" She gave the woman her best wide-eyed look.

It didn't work. A few hours later she was still sitting in the interrogation room in the Vegas airport, answering the same questions over and over. She tried to keep her story straightforward and as close to the truth as she could make it.

No, she hadn't been in New York during its destruction; she had still been at school in Las Vegas. No, she hadn't seen the man she sat next to on the plane on TV. (She had to be very tricky about how she phrased that one.) She only knew that his name was Loki and she used to work with him, in New York. She worked at as an administrative assistant for a large firm in New York. No, she didn't know where Loki was now.

Turns out someone on the plan *had* seen Loki on TV back when he laid waste to the city, and had panicked. They wanted to question him, and were unhappy to discover that he was just an image. So they turned to her. She was just about to start banging her head on the table when another officer walked in on a cell phone.

"It's her lawyer. They're asking to speak with her."

The officer who had been questioning her sighed and let her take the phone call.

"How are you holding up, Darcy?"

"Marcus! You wouldn't believe the day I've had."

"I can imagine, Kid. Listen, I'm getting them to release you. I called your parents and they're waiting - with your luggage - by baggage check. You're going to need to get out of there quickly before they check too far into my Juris Doctorate."

Darcy looked up nervously at the two officers who were whispering in the corner. They did not look happy about her release and her lack of answers.

"Sure thing. Any word on our bosses?"

"Big stuff on the west coast. You can go home and watch it on the television, if you like. Most of our resources are focused there so if you get into any more trouble, call me directly, okay?"

"This wasn't my fault, you know."

"No worries. Listen, I gotta run. I'll talk to you soon, okay?"

He hung up the phone which indicated the urgency of the situation more than anything else. She gave the men at the door a tight smile.

"I guess this means I get to go home?"

XXXXX

It was when the Avengers team lay sprawled inside an armored transport car, tired and some a bit singed, that Tony decided to bring up Darcy. In front of everyone.

"So, did you hear that he finally got around to apologizing to that temp like I told him he should?"

If looks alone could kill, Stark would be a frozen corpse, Loki thought. He sat upright, leaning against the wall of the vehicle and clanging as his suit hit the side as it bumped along the uneven road, was speaking conversationally to Natasha. Natasha was curled up next to Stark, her forehead on her knees, gun still clenched in her fist. But at this news, she raised her head swiftly, her mouth open in a surprised "oh."

"Loki? Apologize? We're talking about Darcy Lewis, right?"

Loki was grateful that Bruce Banner was still passed out and recovering from his transformation back into mortal form. The man would definitely have opinions to share on this topic, and even one less person chiming in was a reprieve.

"Allegedly. I believe Stark was outside the plane at the time and cannot accurately confirm the conversation. He is merely guessing." Loki's tone was frosty. Why did Stark have to involve other people? To humiliate him?

"Why else would she have forgiven him?" he continued on conversationally, as if Loki hadn't spoken.

"Did she truly?" Thor asked, sounding pleased. Even he looked tired, his face smeared with blood from wounds since healed. "My Jane was most displeased with you for a time."

"Is this really appropriate conversation for a time like this? We are, even as we speak, being smuggled into-"

"This is entirely the time to talk about it. You know, group camaraderie, social chit-chat. Your love life is just what we need to help get our second wind."

"Speak for yourself," Clint muttered darkly from the corner.

XXXXX

Darcy's parents were delighted to see her, despite the fact that she had been delayed by several hours. "Tell me about that nice boy who called us," her mother had begun. "Mark? Marcus?"

"Marcus. I used to work with him before I transferred departments. Listen - I'm pretty tired of questions. Can we skip the interrogation until tomorrow?"

"Sure, Honey. You hungry?"

"Starving."

Over dinner she told them what she could - her new apartment, working with Jane again, classes, being lonely. Her mother wanted to know about city boys and her father wanted to know about the economic prospects of New York. All Darcy wanted to do was get through dinner so she could turn on the television and see what was happening on the news.

Were they okay? Did anyone get hurt? How bad was the west coast getting hit? By what? She finally had to fake needing a nap to escape. She flopped down onto her bed, using her phone to access news aggregates. The headlines were about… drug cartels? Since when did the Avengers handle stuff like that? She was not even sure this was what Marcus had been talking about, but she didn't want to disturb him in case he was busy with the mission.

Of course, it could all be a cover. Drug cartel could be code for alien invasion or massive zombie attack or who knows what.

Darcy was just about to Email Jane to see if she knew what was really going on when her phone registered a text message. Her heart leapt in her chest as she saw it was from Loki.

**Thinking about me?**

She rolled her eyes at his message but a smile played on her lips. Before she had time to question it, she replied back.

**Of course. How is the mission?**

His response was quick.

**Ongoing. Will tell you tonight. Do I have to knock?**

What exactly was he asking? If he could visit at all, or if he had to knock on her door? She suddenly became aware of every inch of her skin. Her and Loki. On good terms. Alone in her bedroom. Did she dare? Her body was sure trying to say yes - just at the idea of it!

All the reasons she had initially used to fend him off for weeks seemed weak now. He had stopped being a creepy stalker and acted sincerely interested in her. Plus, she wasn't even working directly for him; hell, she wasn't even in New York right now.

Crap. That's right. She wasn't in New York City with her private little apartment. She was in her parents' home in her childhood bedroom with a twin bed and pony duvet cover.

**I'm in Vegas with the family. I'd rather not introduce you. No offense.**

**I will be discreet.**

The blood rushed to her head. Oh yes. This was *so* happening. Her and Loki. She did a little victory dance in her bedroom. The about-to-get-laid victory dance. She would have to be careful not to get caught, though. It would be just like high school, only way, way better.

XXXXX


End file.
